Arsenal signed Zenit St. Petersburg star Andrei Arshavin on Tuesday to a reported 3.5 year deal. Arshavin was one of the star players in Soccer Betting Euro 2008 and he was also a key player in Zenit’s UEFA Cup victory last year. “It was very hard days for me but now it doesn’t matter,” Arshavin said, “I’m a Gunner. I’m happy to be at Arsenal. I like Arsenal’s style. I like Arsene Wenger as a coach. I like some of the players from this team.”

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The transfer fee was reportedly $21.3 million dollars for Arshavin. “We are delighted to have signed Andrei Arshavin. He is a player I have admired for a long time,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, “He is a versatile player with great experience, who will add real quality to our squad. Andrei is an exciting impact player with a huge amount of ability and has been an influential force with both Zenit St. Petersburg and the Russian national team in recent seasons.”

Arshavin will not be playing the Champions League for Arsenal since he played for Zenit in the group stage but he will be available for other competitions including the Premier League.

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Los Angeles Galaxy star David Beckham is on loan from the Soccer Betting Galaxy to Italian club AC Milan for two months at which time he is supposed to return to Los Angeles. Beckham though has indicated that he might want to stay on with Milan. “Playing here is every footballer’s dream,” Beckham said, “But it’s not easy to decide. It’s a matter that requires time. I’m under contract with, and have lots of respect for, Galaxy. But the possibility to play at Milan is something special. I knew I’d have fun but I didn’t expect to have so much fun. Anyway, I am a very respectful person.”

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AC Milan executive Adriano Galliani has said Milan would pay the Galaxy for Beckham. Whether that is possible or not remains to be seen but Los Angeles Galaxy chief executive Tim Leiweke believes that Beckham will return. In the L.A. Times Leiweke was quoted as saying, “David is under contract to the Galaxy and I had a good, straightforward conversation with him before he left and he loves it in L.A. [...]

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With their lead atop the Soccer Betting Premier League standings gone, Liverpool is starting to feel the heat. Fans are upset, players are upset and manager Rafa Benitez is under fire. It didn’t help Benitez that he criticized the league over the favored treatment of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson or that he took out his two best players, Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw against Wigan. “It is not driving me crazy. I’m OK,” said Benitez, “The game (against Wigan) was crazy. We will see if the game on Sunday will be crazy, too. I am calm because I cannot control this craziness. Maybe it has to be crazy for years. I was talking to the players about how to stop the craziness but I do not know if we can.”

Liverpool had a 1-0 lead against Wigan but took a late penalty and ended up with a draw. Benitez took out Torres and Gerrard and sent in striker Robbie Keane who is not known for his defense. “I am disappointed with a number of things,” Benitez said. “It has happened in the last three games (including two 1-1 draws with Everton). They have something in common I don’t like. I know why but I cannot say anything.”

The game against Chelsea on Sunday is now a critical one for Benitez and for Liverpool. “When you are top of the table you know that every single game is really important so when you lose two points you have to be disappointed [...]

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Manchester United defeated Derby 4-2 at Old Trafford on Tuesday to win the two leg match and advance to the Soccer Betting League Cup Final. Manchester United will play defending champion Tottenham on March 1st at Wembley. Tottenham was able to get past Burnley 6-4 on aggregate even though they lost the second leg 3-2.

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Manchester United will be favored against Tottenham even though the Spurs are the defending champs. “It’s good to reach another final,” United manager Alex Ferguson said, “Our record in going to finals at Wembley is terrific.” If United is able to win the League Cup it would be their third in the competition. United will be making their seventh appearance in the final and their first since winning it in 2006.

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Cristiano Ronaldo won the FIFA World Player of the Year award on Monday. It was a magical year in 2008 for Ronaldo who led Manchester to the Soccer Betting Premier League and Champions League titles. Ronaldo was well clear in the voting for the Player of the Year with Barcelona midfielder Lionel Messi finishing second. Liverpool striker Fernando Torres finished a distant third.

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“It is an overwhelming moment, a very special moment in my life,” Ronaldo said, “I would like to say to my mother and sister that the fireworks can be fired off now.”

Ronaldo is the first player ever from the English Premier League to win the award. Ronaldo scored 42 goals in all competitions last season. This year he has struggled with injuries and has just eight league goals in the Premier League.

Ronaldo also won the Ballon D’Or as European player of the year and he won the World Soccer magazine’s player of the year award. Ronaldo is the second Portuguese player to win the award as Luis Figo won in 2001.

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Defending the Soccer Betting Carling Cup champion Tottenham started slowly against Burnley in the first leg of their semifinal match on Tuesday but turned it on late to win 4-1. Jamie O’Hara scored one goal and had two assists for the Spurs. Things didn’t start well for Tottenham as Burnley scored in the 15th minute but O’Hara came on as a substitute in the second half and assisted on Michel Dawson’s header and scored just moments later off a Luka Modric rebound to give Tottenham the lead. Roman Pavlyuchenko scored in the 65th minute and Burnley defender Michael Duff put it into his own goal moments later. “At halftime, you could not see that result coming for sure,” Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said. “But at halftime, I got into them big time and sorted a few of them out really because I was disappointed with that first half. I said, ‘I’ll find out an awful lot in the second half about a lot of you.”‘

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Burnley had the best of it early when Martin Paterson scored the first goal. It easily could have been 2-0 for Burnley but Paterson missed wide. “The first-half performance we were delighted with,” Burnley manager Owen Coyle said. “We looked a very good side and scored a very good goal. I don’t think anyone would have foreseen what happened in the second half. There certainly wasn’t three goals between the teams tonight but that’s what happens when you play against sides at the highest level.”

Read more on Tottenham Routs Burnley in Carling Cup Semifinal Action

The semifinals of the Carling Cup begin this week with Burnley at defending champion Tottenham on Tuesday and Manchester United playing at Derby on Wednesday. United will be playing their second game in just 17 days but is not expected to be tested by a weak Derby squad. The second leg will be played in two weeks at Old Trafford. The winner will face either Burnley or Tottenham for the Soccer Betting Carling Cup title.

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Manchester United is expected to mix up their lineup with regulars and reserves in Wednesday’s match against Derby. United has a key game upcoming on Sunday against Chelsea in the Premier League so some starters will be rested. United had little trouble over the weekend in the FA Cup, winning 3-0 against Southampton. One player who will get some playing time against Derby though is Carlos Tevez who missed the team’s last two matches while he was in Argentina.

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Manchester United will be playing Japanese club Gamba Osaka in the semifinals of the Soccer Betting Club World Cup in Japan on Thursday. The other semifinal match on Thursday will be South American champ Liga de Quito vs. Mexico’s Pachuca. The winners will play on Sunday while the losers will play a third place match, also on Sunday.

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Manchester United has not played yet in the tournament, having received an automatic bid into the semifinals. Manchester United is coming off a scoreless draw in Premier League action against Tottenham on Sunday. Manchester United qualified for this semifinal spot in the Club World Cup by beating Chelsea in the Soccer Betting UEFA Champions League final. The match on Sunday against Gamba could be more difficult than most people believe for Manchester United simply because of the travel. Manchester United is about a 2/5 favorite on the three-way Manchester United soccer betting against Gamba while Pachuca is about a 5-4 favorite on the three-way line against Liga.

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Juande Ramos replaced Bernd Schuster as head coach of Real Madrid on Tuesday and didn’t have much time to get ready for his first game on Wednesday but it didn’t matter. Real Madrid defeated Zenit St. Petersburg 3-0 in the Soccer Betting Champions League as Raul Gonzalez scored twice. Arjen Robben also scored as Real Madrid finished second in Group H and now will advance into the next round of the Champions League.

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The win for Ramos was somewhat expected since Zenit is not that strong but it was still an important win for Real Madrid. Ramos took the job on Tuesday, replacing Schuster who had said it was “impossible” for Real Madrid to defeat Barcelona on Saturday. Real Madrid has lost three of its past four league matches and trails Barcelona by nine points. It didn’t take Ramos long to find a job again after being fired by Tottenham in October.

Soccer News: Ramos Wins Debut as Real Madrid Coach

The last three spots in the second round of the Soccer Betting Champions League are on the line this week with the final round of group matches. 13 teams have already qualified for the next round and three teams will join them. One team that was expected to get in must still qualify as Chelsea hosts CFR Cluj. Chelsea is battling with AS Roma and Bordeaux for one of the two spots in Group A.

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Chelsea should not have any trouble with CFR Cluj but the Blues are not playing well of late, losing at home for the first time in four years in the Premier League. “I think teams have come and put 10 players behind the ball and made it very difficult,” Chelsea assistant coach Ray Wilkins said. “At times we haven’t worked hard enough to pry it open but give credit to teams as well, they’ve worked out a plan to play against us and it’s up to us to go against that and we’ll get it back on track.” The Blues should get a win which would mean AS Roma would only need a draw at home against Bordeaux while the road team would need the win to advance. Roma is playing well of late, having won four straight in Serie A. Jeremy Menez scored on Saturday in a 1-0 win over Chievo Verona. “He has a lot of skill and quality, and instincts of a great player,” Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said. “I knew he had talent, but I didn’t think he’d be this decisive this quickly.”

Inter Milan is at the top of Group B with the other spot up in the air. Panathinaikos needs only a draw at home against Anorthosis to advance. “Not many clubs have the opportunity to qualify for the last 16 of the Soccer Betting Champions League and we shouldn’t miss it,” coach Henk Pen Cate said, “Qualification is in our hands.”